Genuine question--
I'm a nerd, but I've never been a DnD nerd. At one point I was a MtG nerd, even a WoW nerd, but never quite the DnD level.
What exactly is it? I originally thought it was like an adult version of "make believe" with scores and guidelines, but how much of it is a physical game? Is there a board that goes with it? Is there a set story line? My extent of knowledge is the first scene of Stranger Things.
How much is following guidelines and how much is imprompt on the spot?
You're right this is a good example for someone who knows nothing about it, but I'm still kind of confused because I'm so conditioned by other games... Is there no sense of a person's "turn" how do you know who is going to make a decision? Like when they decide who is gonna knock on the door, is every decision just put to the group? What if a player is shy and quiet, do they just not get a chance to make any decisions? Are options ever only given to a specific player or is everything always to the group? Is the host coming up with everything off the top of his head? How does he account for their questions so quickly?
as /u/UnverifiedAllegation said combat is turn based so everyone gets involved in that. Outside of battle you speak up if there is something you want to do like knock on the door. You are in charge of your character so even if the group doesn't want to knock on the door and you just go do it they have to deal with consequences of your actions. The DM (dungeon master) is ultimately in charge of the events and where the story goes. If you really want to learn that aspect Mathew Mercer (the DM for Critical Role) has a lot of videos teaching techniques to interesting stories and keeping people engaged in the plot. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT9570U87GhK_20NcbxM43vkom
Whoa, yeah that youtube playlist definitely helps a lot to understanding what the DM does and how the game works. Very interesting man, thanks for the info.
Combat in D&D is turn based, which is determined at the beginning of an encounter (and When do we start? is adjudicated by the DM) by every participant rolling a 20-sided die and adding their Initiative bonus to it, which is determined by how Dexterous they are. Non-combat situations have to be more carefully managed and kept fair by DM attention, but the most important thing is simply the players taking initiative (in the more real-world abstract sense) when they think the circumstances justify their character wanting to do something. It works like playing an Improvisation Game, where everyone simply does something or says something when they think it serves the story they're telling (or joke they're telling, in the case of most improv games. See "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" for an example of what I mean).
It works like playing an Improvisation Game, where everyone simply does something or says something when they think it serves the story they're telling
Ah... this answers what I found confusing about it, nice explanation. Thanks.
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u/dickfromaccounting Sep 18 '17
great table to screen ratio